More Information

Ernst: Finding compassion for the homeless

Published: Saturday, December 1, 2012 at 4:22 p.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, December 1, 2012 at 4:22 p.m.

The night was bitter as New York City police officer Larry DePrimo walked his rounds at West 44th and Broadway. With two pairs of socks and combat boots, his feet were still cold.

He heard someone laughing. It drew his attention to a homeless man with no shoes. Rather than join in the ridicule with other passersby, he talked briefly with the man, who seemed resigned to his situation and even offered the officer a “God bless you for what you do.”

DePrimo then went to the nearest shoe store and spent $75 of his own money for a pair of insulated, size 12, boots and socks. He helped the elderly homeless man put them on.

As he did so, a tourist from Arizona snapped a picture. Two weeks later, on Tuesday, that picture got national exposure over the department website. DePrimo, a young, unassuming cop, is now the toast of the nation for his compassion.

Two days after DePrimo’s well-deserved rise to prominence, a video from Sarasota revealed another interaction between law enforcement and homelessness.

The video, released Thursday, shows officer Derrick Gilbert at the Sarasota bus station, slamming the head of a homeless man into a wall during an Oct. 14 arrest.

Roger Fields didn’t get a new pair of shoes. He got a trip to the hospital.

The catalysts may differ — Gilbert had responded to a complaint against Fields — but the contrast in images is inescapable. New York City comes across as compassionate to its homeless population; Sarasota comes across as, well, “the meanest city” in the United States, a moniker it earned several years ago from homeless advocates.

Rest assured that NYC has done its share of head-busting and that Sarasota cops, maybe even Gilbert, have opened their hearts to help the homeless among us.

But perception is a powerful force. And right now that force is not with Sarasota when it comes to homelessness.

The police may be part of the problem, but they are not the problem, as so eloquently enunciated by retired, 30-year SPD veteran Bob Gorevan in an H-T guest column on Nov. 16.

Too often, Gorevan says, officers walk into a situation with unclear directives. It's easy to see how it happens. Property owners or visitors complain about vagrants, presumably homeless, urinating on walls, making lewd comments, drinking on the street, harassing pedestrians or littering.

These activities do constitute petty crimes, for which people can be arrested, so the police are called in to “do something.”

When they arrive, however, they do not see any of these infractions. All they see are people who appear to be homeless. In an effort to “do something,” the officers make arbitrary arrests for lying on a bench, writing on a sidewalk with chalk and charging a cell phone at a city park.

These offenses are so bogus that, in essence, people are arrested for being homeless.

It’s funny though. Despite Sarasota’s seemingly unshakable reputation of meanness, an army of volunteers and professionals are working countywide to help the homeless.

The Salvation Army, Resurrection House and countless churches have programs, many of them succeeding in one way or another, to provide food, medical help, transportation, clothes, shelter and job-training all with the goal of stabilizing and restoring dignity to lives that have suffered torments many of us can only imagine.

<p>The night was bitter as New York City police officer Larry DePrimo walked his rounds at West 44th and Broadway. With two pairs of socks and combat boots, his feet were still cold.</p><p>He heard someone laughing. It drew his attention to a homeless man with no shoes. Rather than join in the ridicule with other passersby, he talked briefly with the man, who seemed resigned to his situation and even offered the officer a “God bless you for what you do.”</p><p>DePrimo then went to the nearest shoe store and spent $75 of his own money for a pair of insulated, size 12, boots and socks. He helped the elderly homeless man put them on.</p><p>As he did so, a tourist from Arizona snapped a picture. Two weeks later, on Tuesday, that picture got national exposure over the department website. DePrimo, a young, unassuming cop, is now the toast of the nation for his compassion.</p><p>Two days after DePrimo's well-deserved rise to prominence, a video from Sarasota revealed another interaction between law enforcement and homelessness.</p><p>The video, released Thursday, shows officer Derrick Gilbert at the Sarasota bus station, slamming the head of a homeless man into a wall during an Oct. 14 arrest.</p><p>Roger Fields didn't get a new pair of shoes. He got a trip to the hospital. </p><p>The catalysts may differ — Gilbert had responded to a complaint against Fields — but the contrast in images is inescapable. New York City comes across as compassionate to its homeless population; Sarasota comes across as, well, “the meanest city” in the United States, a moniker it earned several years ago from homeless advocates.</p><p>Rest assured that NYC has done its share of head-busting and that Sarasota cops, maybe even Gilbert, have opened their hearts to help the homeless among us.</p><p>But perception is a powerful force. And right now that force is not with Sarasota when it comes to homelessness.</p><p>The police may be part of the problem, but they are not the problem, as so eloquently enunciated by retired, 30-year SPD veteran Bob Gorevan in an H-T guest column on Nov. 16.</p><p>Too often, Gorevan says, officers walk into a situation with unclear directives. It's easy to see how it happens. Property owners or visitors complain about vagrants, presumably homeless, urinating on walls, making lewd comments, drinking on the street, harassing pedestrians or littering.</p><p>These activities do constitute petty crimes, for which people can be arrested, so the police are called in to “do something.”</p><p>When they arrive, however, they do not see any of these infractions. All they see are people who appear to be homeless. In an effort to “do something,” the officers make arbitrary arrests for lying on a bench, writing on a sidewalk with chalk and charging a cell phone at a city park.</p><p>These offenses are so bogus that, in essence, people are arrested for being homeless.</p><p>It's funny though. Despite Sarasota's seemingly unshakable reputation of meanness, an army of volunteers and professionals are working countywide to help the homeless.</p><p>The Salvation Army, Resurrection House and countless churches have programs, many of them succeeding in one way or another, to provide food, medical help, transportation, clothes, shelter and job-training all with the goal of stabilizing and restoring dignity to lives that have suffered torments many of us can only imagine. </p><p>Eric Ernst's column runs Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Contact him at eric.ernst@heraldtribune.com or (941) 486-3073.</p>